Last Breath
by Wraith Ziodex
Summary: All Rose wanted to do was go and kill the love of her life and put him out of his misery. But when Bela and Sveta drop in, it looks like Rose is the one being Guarded. Now she's faced with another choice, take the help? Or run away? Good luck, Rose.
1. ONE

**Last Breath**

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**_Chapter One_

I set off to kill the man I loved. I set off three hours ago and no one had come by, I knew this was something I had to do, but I was beginning to wonder if the badass-ness was beginning to wear off. I wasn't even a quarter of the way to Missoula, from there it would-be harder. I wasn't familiar with the landscape or climate of Siberia, I didn't even know the place where He grew up. I wasn't sure I could even bring myself to think his name after the first hour when it finally hit me. I was going to kill him, the man I loved more than anyone in the whole world.

I wanted this to be just one big horrible dream. I didn't want to kill him, I wanted to wake up and have him hold me close. Maybe we'd be back in the cabin. Maybe we fell asleep after we committed that most wonderful of acts and this was just my fears taking over? I was just delusional. This was real life, I wasn't asleep. The sun was beginning to rise as if to prove a point. _Got it, _I thought in a bored tone. _I'm awake and I'm walking to Missoula. Off to kill the only person who understands me._

The lights behind me made me turn. Or maybe that was the roar of the engine in the car. I could barely see it in the early dawn hours. It was an American muscle car, that much I could tell. I was never the Car and Driver kind, but even I could appreciate the craftsmanship of such a vehicle. I put my hand out thumb up in the international sign of hitch-hiking. Not that I particularly liked the idea of getting a ride from someone in a car that screamed danger. What did I have to lose at this point though? Couldn't be much. My heart was already dead.

Even with my thumb out I had to admit that the fact the guy pulled over so easily was surprising. The car was a Chevy Impala, late sixties by the look. It was midnight black and the windows were tinted so dark that I couldn't see inside, even with my dhampir senses. Made me guess that it was some form of glass that was one way. You could see out but nothing could get in. There was a rustling sound as I walked up to where the car pulled over. It made me even more weary. Did I really want to get in? Maybe I could wait for the next one?

No, I decided. I had the stake from the raid and I had two _molnija_ and a _zvezda_ to prove that I was more than confident to take on anyone who challenged me.

Just before I got to the car, the passenger door swung open easily. Even for me this encounter was getting creepy. I got closer to the car, no nausea, they weren't Strigoi. I suppose that meant something. . . Somewhere. The inside was leather, as black as the outside of the car. The only light came from the outside and the CD player that definitely did not come with the car. It was teched out to the max. It had a hook up for an iPod, no surprise that a black one was hooked up to it. "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana played. I had to hitch a ride with a guy who liked the eighties. I was a glutton for punishment. I got in and closed the door. Turning to thank the man who picked me up I swear I almost had a heart attack!

"Hi!" screeched a small girl. She had pale blonde hair that was pulled into pigtails that formed soft ringlets. She didn't look too much older than thirteen or so. "I'm Svetlana! You can call me Sveta!" She was energetic. Reminded me of Mia and Natalie combined. She was tanned, so not a Moroi. But she didn't seem human. Not with how fast or how easy she moved in the cramped back seat. I didn't even notice that she was rambling until her partner spoke. I expected a man's voice. What I heard was different.

"Svetlana! Sit the fuck down or I'm shoving you in the trunk!" said the driver. Her hair was very long and straight. I couldn't tell where her hair ended and her clothes or the car began. She was ghostly pale and sunglasses covered her eyes. She whipped them off and looked at the smaller girl. A breath caught in my throat. Her eyes were rimmed with red. I automatically reached for the stake I had but she was quicker. I sat back against the seat as the silver stake she held pressed against my chest right over my heart. How the hell was she that fast?

"Bela!" shouted the small girl. "You can't hurt her! Kirova won't like it and neither will Janine!" The girl gave a sound of the wind being knocked out of her as the driver pressed more on the gas pedal. Her sunglasses were back on. I took a moment to assess her. She screamed dangerous, more than her car. She had on a long black leather trench coat. She wore a stretchy black top over a button up white blouse that just barely peeked over the edges. Her pants were black, they hugged her legs tightly. Everything hugged her tightly. She was thin with curves in all the right places. If she wasn't Strigoi I would have thought she was the type who got all the guys she could ever want. Maybe she was before she was turned, she was obviously not a Moroi in her previous life.

"Bela! Dimka will be mad at you!" said Sveta. I turned to her at the same time that Bela took the stake away and slammed on the brakes. "Owie!" whined the girl as she hit her head on the center counsel. That was when I saw the Promise Mark, the four _molnija_ and the _zvezda_ on the back of her neck. She was a guardian?

I made a movement to run but the driver was still faster than me. The stake was at my heart again and the glasses were off. Her eyes were a deep brown, they reminded me so much of Dimitri's that it hurt a little. Bela's were rimmed in red though. Were these the eyes I was going to see the next time I saw Dimitri?

"Stop doing that," she said to me sternly. She was older than me. And now that I saw part of her face was all scarred up. It was the one flaw in her features. She was still beyond beautiful, inhumanly beautiful, like Tasha Ozera, but Bela's scar was bigger. It took up half her face, a cross between a burn and a gash as if something tried taking off her face. I didn't want to stare, but I couldn't help it. "I really don't want to hurt you. Dimi would despise me for it and I can't say your mother would like it either. Kirova would have my head on a platter too, ten to one. But I'm not going to let you kill me. Understood, Hathaway?"

I stared at her for a moment before saying the words. "You're Strigoi," I said staring at her. I was terrified. I knew I should have been stronger. After the battle, after the weeks of trying to become just as stoic as every other guardian. I had failed, I was terrified. I couldn't even count on my nausea to warn me now.

"No," she said simply. She reached with her free hand to the glove box and got a small thing of tissues. She wiped half her face revealing a complexion that was still pale but not Strigoi pale, more like she just never went into the sun. "I'm not Strigoi. And I'm actually offended you would think it."

"You do look like a Strigoi when you're undercover like that, Bela!"

"Svetlana, I swear to God, that trunk is calling your name if you don't shut the hell up!" The small girl whimpered and sat back. She muttered something in Russian.

I sat for a moment before I spoke. "Who are you?" I asked. Kirova? My mother? Dimitri? Who were these two?

"I'm Guardian Svetlana Dragonova!" said the girl. Looks apparently didn't matter, or big surprises really did come in small packages. Svetlana did not look old enough to be in high school let alone a Guardian. "I'm nineteen! Most people don't see me as a threat, so I work well under cover." The blonde jerked her thumb to the driver. "This is Bela, well, that's what everyone calls her, she's really Guardian Dece-," she was cut off mid name, this woman obviously wanted to tell her own story.

"I'm Guardian December Belikova. I'm Dimitri's twin sister." She looked calm and cool. But my heart raced. Dimitri's sister? He never said anything about a sister being a Guardian. He said his family stuck to gender roles. He became a guardian, his mother and sisters were family women. I didn't know what to think. Would this woman hate me? Was she sent here to take me back to the Academy? Kirova change her mind? I wasn't allowed to go away? "Are you going to say something?" asked Bela.

"Dimitri?" it was the only word I could manage. She sighed as if it was the most stereotypical thing to say. I wasn't stereotypical! Most girls didn't have my kind of attitude! But she took away the stake, put on the sunglasses and turned back to the road. With her driving I wasn't sure if we were going to end up in Missoula or over the edge of a cliff. She scared me; and not in the same way Dimitri did.

"We're going to Missoula," said Sveta happily seeing my questioning expression. "We're gonna let you do whatever you have to and we have to check in with Headquarters. Then we're going to the airport, we have to take a special transport, Bela won't leave her car." She hit the seat of the car which earned a snide remark in Russian. From the sound it was not praising Sveta. Or her apparent lack of respect for the vehicle. The doll girl said something else. I was lost as the two conversed in Russian. Well, more like argued in Russian.

I couldn't take my eyes off the one called Bela. She was Dimitri's sister. She must have known where he was. "What took you so long?" I blurted out in the middle of their argument, I lost some of the control I'd learned from my God-like lover. Bela said nothing and for once Svetlana was quiet I could see out of the corner of my eye a fallen look on her babydoll features.

"I was at Court," said Bela evenly. She was just like Dimitri, always cool and collected. "I've been there for months. Tatiana just got word that Dimi was taken. I was sent with Sveta to reinforce the school. I asked Kirova to let me come after you. She and Alberta allowed it. But she won't be Headmistress for long, and I doubt Alberta will have much of a power position in a few days. Which is why we have to get out of the states."

"You were at Court?" I asked. "You knew about me? How much did you know?"

"We knew everything!" Sveta said. "Dimka wrote to Bela all the time! And he called lots. Dimka is the only one in the family who talks to Bela."

"Stop talking, Svetlana. I am not kidding about the trunk. If I wanted her to know or if Dimi wanted her to know he'd have told. Keep your bratty nose in the backseat." She threw something at the smaller Guardian. "Have fun." Sveta grumbled some cuss words in Russian. It made me think of how Dimitri would never teach them to me. "She's not related to me," said Bela answering my unasked question. "Yeva and Svetlana's grandmother were friends. Both Guardians who left the life to raise children. Both hate us for becoming Guardians. Sveta has a thing, she can't stand kids. She goes undercover as one to check out the inner workings, see if any Moroi or Dhampirs are looking to go Strigoi. I just hate them. My mother and Grandmother don't understand. I was basically disowned when I ran away at the same time Dimi was sent to the school in Siberia."

"Why do you call him Dimi? Svetlana and Tasha call him Dimka," I said curious. She was Russian, obviously, even her slightly hidden accent gave it away.

"You know Ozera?" she asked darkly. "I always hated that woman. Dimka is his Russian nickname. I never liked it there. As soon as I could I left. Dimi is an American nickname for him. I like America. I hate having to go back to Russia. But Dimi would have done this for me. Dimi's always looked out for me, it's my turn to look after him."

I felt a tear fall from my eye, she could talk so casually about him. I was surprised at how easily I could do the same. Bela tossed me the tissues wordlessly and turned up the music as we entered the city. She had no qualms about breaking the speed limit. She really was dangerous. I didn't know if I should respect Bela or fear her.

These next hours were going to be torture. I didn't want these two around. But I got the feeling that this time, I was the one being guarded.

"Come on, Rose!" said Sveta energetically as she climbed out of the car when we got to the bank. I had a feeling that if I tried to run Bela would just trap me like Dimitri would.


	2. TWO

**Last Breath**

Chapter One

Weeks passed. I blamed bad planning on Bela's part. She had spent a day or so arguing with the transportation people we were dealing with. They strictly said, no car. It was something the woman had been furious about. At one point I expected the man to start crying, Bela had one thing Dimitri didn't. She didn't have the patience. Her six foot two frame was intimidating to say the least, her temper only made her that much more of a force to be reckoned with.

I'd realized, when she took out the contacts and didn't wear the cover up, she did look kind of like Dimitri. Bela was just a few inches shorter than her brother. She had the same hard lines, her eyes were the same deep brown and in the rare instance that she smiled, her lips would curl and her eyes would glint with the same joyousness that had once belonged to her brother. But if I thought that Dimitri's joyful moods were far and few between, it was nothing compared to Bela. Sveta said this was normal for the older Guardian. I hated to see what it would be like when we got to Siberia.

We sat in a spacious hotel room in Saint Petersburg. Bela had chosen the place, even if I had paid with the money that Adrian had given me. I fidgeted with the covers as Sveta flipped through the channels and Bela conversed in Russian on the phone. The conversation was like every other one she'd had. Hard, cold, and angry. I thought at first that it might have been because of our means of getting here. We had to take a regular plane to Saint Petersburg. So far two weeks had passed and we stayed in the city. I wasn't allowed to be alone. When Bela was asleep Sveta was up with me. Very rarely it was the other way around. Most of the time I slept when Sveta did.

I hated to admit I was growing fond of the girl. She stood about five feet tall and was very energetic. She was pretty in a childish kind of way and she always had something to smile about. I didn't think I could imagine someone like her take on someone as tall and strong as Dimitri. But she'd told me she'd once beaten him in a fight and when she'd asked Bela to confirm, well, she'd simply said, "You got lucky." Dimitri didn't seem like the type to lose fights often. I'd won only a minority of the one's we'd fought. During that conversation I'd briefly imagined Bela and Dimitri fighting, they seemed like a pretty even match, but I had my money on the man I loved.

"Sveta, what are we still doing here?" I asked Svetlana as I looked over at Bela. "We've been here for weeks. This isn't finding him and this certainly isn't helping him. It's only killing him more and more. Every day he's one of those monsters is another day he's suffering. Doesn't she know that?"

Sveta sighed sadly. "She knows," said the girl glancing over at her friend. It was still a relationship I found odd. "But she knows that there are things that have to happen first. We have to get the Alchemists in on it. But they're hard to work with. At least when Bela's involved. And then we have to go to our hometown." Sveta sighed again. She didn't elaborate on anything. I didn't ask what an Alchemist was, I really didn't want a vocabulary lesson.

"I'm going to take a shower," I said standing and grabbing my bag. It was the one place neither woman followed me. They didn't pay much attention. Once I was in the bathroom my plan was supposed to be an easy execution. Out the window and down to the street. It seemed like a smart idea at the time. I turned on the shower before opening the window that was above the toilet. My bag was thrown out and landed with a soft thud on the fire escape. I turned and thanked luck when it seemed the water had masked any sound.

It didn't take long for me to slip out of the hotel and down the side. It wasn't a luxury hotel, thanks to the fact that Bela hated being surrounded by that many people. I honestly wondered how she became a Guardian with that much of a stand-off-ish nature. But then people had described her brother as an anti-social god. Still, I wondered just how far this personality of hers went. She was just so hard to be around. I wondered what Adrian would see when he looked at her aura.

I moved swiftly down the street, taking the shadows and was very careful not to get caught by my captors. There really was no other way to describe the Yin Yang team I left behind. When I was far enough away I started to slow down and assess where I was. How was I going to find him now? I had no leads and in ditching the dream team, I left my only lead. Bela and Sveta had been very careful not to tell me the name of their hometown in Siberia.

That, I supposed, was why hearing the voice I did in front of me was shocking. It was a girl with cropped sandy hair. She was dressed in a business like fashion that clashed with an also formal party kind of feel. "What do you think you're doing?" said the girl. "We don't need your kind around here. I get a call from that angry Guardian and then I find you. Careless. What were you planning to do anyway? Run around Saint Petersburg just killing anything in your way? Those two were supposed to keep an eye on you, it's the only reason Abe even let you come here."

"Who are you?"

"Sydney. I'm here to keep you until those two show up. If you were going to run away you could have at least tried to hide better," said Sydney. "I thought we'd be looking for days, not hours."

"What are you? A Guardian? How many of you are they sending to baby sit me? I'm no one's responsibility anymore!" I nearly shouted.

"I'm not a Guardian. I'm not one of you. Happily human through and through. And I'm sent to clean up after you, not baby sit. That's those two thugs' jobs."

"Thugs?" I asked just as I heard the footsteps behind me and then a strong hand grab my arm. I looked to see the familiar hard face of Bela. If she was unhappy before she was down right pissed off now. Behind her Sveta was frowning and looking at me sadly. "Thugs?" I repeated jerking my head at the giant beside me.

"As if watching you isn't hard enough? Didn't I tell you it was a you or me thing? I honestly don't care what Abe says. I won't hesitate to put you on the first plane out of here or in a box. Do you honestly think I want to deal with my brother's two bit blood-whore? No. I don't," her words were icy and her eyes were darker than I'd ever seen them. Her lips were tight. Those eyes that sometimes reminded me of Dimitri were so dark and cold that I wondered how I ever saw similarities. Dimitri had never looked at me like that. Not in any of my memories.

Silence followed. I didn't want to say anything. I thought I might cry, but why I didn't know. "I didn't ask you to take me here," I said finally. "I didn't tell you to bring me here and follow me around. I could have found my way alone."

Bela laughed a cold laugh that made Sydney take a step back and Svetlana jump and wrap her arms around herself. "You wouldn't have lasted three days here. My brother went easy on you. The only reason you still breathe is because when I kill him, I want you to see the monster you helped make. You and the rest of those Guardians at that school. You didn't help him. You didn't try to fight those Strigoi. You just watched as he died and then ran away. You're weak. You're nothing." Bela turned me around and shoved me back to Sveta. The girl looked sad that she had to do what she was doing. Flex-cuffs went on my wrists. They were dark, so in this time of night no one would suspect anything.

"If you're not coming, Alchemist, I suggest you make yourself scarce. If you are then follow and say nothing," said the woman. There was very little respect for Bela in me anymore. It was constant, growing fear. She did blame me for what happened in the cave, she did blame me for what happened to Dimitri.

I didn't hear the obviously short conversation that passed between Bela and Sydney. The next thing I knew I was being guided by a gentle hand on one side, Sveta, sweet little Sveta; and a firm and harsh one on the other. Terrifying Bela. The two women seemed inseparable, but they were stark contrasts in comparisons. Sydney was on the other side of Sveta. She looked uneasy and almost afraid, more than a little disgusted though.

"Alchemists don't like Dhampirs, or vampires," said Sveta. She was the only one who spoke to me when we got back to the hotel. I thought I wasn't able to be alone before, this was over board. I now had time limits for changing, showering and going to the bathroom. I had to order food from a menu. Bela was taking this way over board. "They think we're evil. That we're unnatural and go against everything that God had planned." The girl shrugged and I supposed her views of the man upstairs was less than flattering. I couldn't say much for my own religious beliefs. They were virtually nonexistent. I'd gone to church with Lissa a few times, but it was mainly to meet up with friends. I usually slept during service. Hey, no one said you had to pay attention to go.

"Unnatural? Like her knowing about us and being able to make those potions she was organizing earlier is natural?" I asked skeptically as I sat in bed. We were leaving by train first thing in the morning. Bela had planned a few extra days in the city. We were apparently forgetting that plan due to my jail break attempt.

"It's more natural to them than we are, Rose."

"Does that make sense to you?" I asked her.

"Not really. But then again, I think I'm unnatural for anything," said Svetlana. She had a point there. But I couldn't help but think about my mother when she said that and shrugged.

I laid down, turned off the light and prayed for sleep. Who I got in there wasn't what I wanted.

"Hello, little dhampir!" said Adrian as he stepped forward, coming out of the shadow of a tree. We were on St. Vladimir's grounds, on the edge, by the pond. "Are you going to tell me where you are?"

"At this point, I would. If I wasn't afraid Bela would shoot me on sight. I swear that woman is psychic or something. I think it and she knows it. She's creepy," I said to Adrian as I kicked at the grass, hands in my pockets.

"Bela?" he questioned softly.

"December Belikova," I said with a sigh. He knew I was going after Dimitri, why bother hiding who I was with. He knew I was I Russia anyway. I was pretty much only giving him information he knew. "She's a Guardian."

"That Bela," said Adrian in recognition. "You want to be careful around her. She's got a temper. It's smart of you to be afraid. Back at Alder she wasn't very well known for being nice. But you two have a lot in common. Not that you'll be friends. Her brother means too much for her to be your friend. At least she hasn't killed you yet."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Adrian. I'll make sure to keep that in mind the next time she puts me in hand cuffs and drags me somewhere. 'Well, Rose, at least she didn't kill you!' Awesome!" I said clearly disgruntled.

"Aw, little dhampir," said Adrian mockingly, "she's just Bela. There's no way to change that. Though I will give you some friendly advice. Dimitri and Dolly, they're the only ones she'll smile for and be nice to. So don't try to be her friend. Just try not to be her next victim."

"_Victim!_" I cried. "How many does she have?"

"More than you can count. She didn't get all those scars playing dress up and baby dolls. You make enemies the way she works. Or should I say, _she_ makes enemies."

I groaned. Not what I wanted. Dimitri's sister hated me, she was apparently a bit psycho, and would gladly see my head on a silver platter. "Can I go back to my own dreams? You're not exactly a ray of sunshine at the moment," I grumbled glaring at him.

"Oh, little dhampir," he said before everything went black and I sat on a dreamy beach with Dimitri beside me. Warm, smiling, happy Dimitri.


End file.
